Test and Evaluation Support

Test and Evaluation Support falls under Budget Activity 6, RDT&E Management Support, and aims to provide resources for the operation of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC) test activities included in the Department of Defense Major Range and Test Facility Base (MRTFB). This includes support for test facilities such as wind tunnels, rocket and jet engine test cells, hypersonic and subsonic testing, modeling and simulation, technology, limited space environmental simulation chambers, armament test ranges, hardware-in-the-loop test facilities, climatic test facilities, avionics test facilities, aircraft testbeds, dry lake bed landing sites, instrumented test ranges, and test aircraft maintenance. The program also funds institutional test infrastructure activities including command and supervisory staffs; supply stocks; maintenance, repair, and replacement of worn or obsolete test equipment and facilities; civilian salaries; temporary duty travel; range operations; material support contract costs for hardware and software engineering and maintenance; and minor improvement and modernization projects.

Additionally, Program PE 0605807F supports the three test wings within AFTC: Arnold Engineering and Development Complex (AEDC) at Arnold Air Force Base (AFB), TN; the 412 Test Wing (TW) at Edwards AFB, CA; and the 96 TW at Eglin AFB, FL. These wings are responsible for various institutional test infrastructure activities supporting weapons system development, operational test and evaluation for aircraft subsystems and weapon systems, aerospace research vehicles, unmanned miniature vehicles, cruise missiles, parachute delivery/recovery systems, cargo handling systems, communications systems for DoD and allied forces. The program also provides scientific testing processes that support the development of munitions systems.

In summary, Program PE 0605807F aims to provide essential resources to operate various Air Force Test Center (AFTC) test activities including wind tunnels, rocket and jet engine test cells, hypersonic testing facilities among others. It also supports the three AFTC wings in their mission to develop weapons systems through operational testing and evaluation.